The proverbial wisdom of the populace in the streets, on the
roads, and in the markets, instructs the ear read more

The proverbial wisdom of the populace in the streets, on the
roads, and in the markets, instructs the ear of him who studies
man more fully than a thousand rules ostentatiously arranged.

Hence ye profane; I hate ye all;
Both the great vulgar, and the small.

Hence ye profane; I hate ye all;
Both the great vulgar, and the small.

Report uttered by the people is everywhere of great power.

Report uttered by the people is everywhere of great power.

I wish the crowd to feel itself well treated,
Especially since it lives and lets me live.
read more

I wish the crowd to feel itself well treated,
Especially since it lives and lets me live.
[Ger., Ich wunschte sehr, der Menge zu behagen,
Besonders weil sie lebt und leben lasst.]

The voice of the people has about it something divine: for how
otherwise can so many heads agree together read more

The voice of the people has about it something divine: for how
otherwise can so many heads agree together as one?
[Lat., Vox populi habet aliquid divinum: nam quomo do aliter tot
capita in unum conspirare possint?]

He who serves the public is a poor animal; he worries himself to
death and no one thanks him read more

He who serves the public is a poor animal; he worries himself to
death and no one thanks him for it.
[Ger., Wer dem Publicum dient, ist ein armes Thier;
Er qualt sich ab, niemand bedankt sich dafur.]

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor read more

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few.

We would not listen to those who were wont to say the voice of
the people is the voice read more

We would not listen to those who were wont to say the voice of
the people is the voice of God, for the voice of the mob is near
akin to madness.
[Lat., Nec audiendi sunt qui solent dicere vox populi, vox dei;
cum tumultus vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.]

The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is
foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species read more

The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is
foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is
wise, and, when time is given to it, as a species it always acts
right.